The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: The Crown's Game

Author: Evelyn Skye

Published on: May 7th 2016

Published by: Balzer + Bray

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.

Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?

For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.

And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love... or be killed himself.

As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear... the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

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BOOK REVIEW + GIVEAWAY: THE GAME OF LIVES (THE MORTALITY DOCTRINE #3) BY JAMES DASHNER

TITLE: The Game of Lives
AUTHOR: James Dashner
SERIES: The Mortality Doctrine #3
RELEASE DATE: November 17th 2015
RELEASED BY: Delacorte Press
SOURCE: Publisher for review
PURCHASE: Amazon

SYNOPSIS:

This game might just kill you.

Michael used to live to game. Now the games he was playing have become all too real. Only weeks ago, Sinking into the Sleep was fun. The VirtNet combined the most cutting-edge technology and the most sophisticated gaming for a full mind-body experience. And it was Michael's passion. But now every time Michael Sinks, he risks his life.

The games are over. The VirtNet has become a world of deadly consequences, and Kaine grows stronger by the day. The Mortality Doctrine - Kaine's master plan - has nearly been realized. If Kaine succeeds, it will mean worldwide cyber domination. And it looks like Michael and his friends are the only ones who can put the monster back in the box - if Michael can figure out who his friends really are.

Other books in the series:

The Eye of Minds

The Rule of Thoughts

BOOK REVIEW: ARCHIVIST WASP BY NICOLE KORNHER-STACE

Title: Archivist Wasp
Author: Nicole Kornher-Stace
Release date: May 5th 2015
Released by: Big Mouth House
Purchase: Amazon

SUMMARY:

Wasp's job is simple. Hunt ghosts. And every year she has to fight to remain Archivist. Desperate and alone, she strikes a bargain with the ghost of a supersoldier. She will go with him on his underworld hunt for the long-long ghost of his partner and in exchange she will find out more about his pre-apocalyptic world than any Archivist before her. And there is much to know. After all, Archivists are marked from birth to do the holy work of a goddess. They're chosen. They're special. Or so they've been told for four hundred years.


Archivist Wasp fears she is not the chosen one, that she won't survive the trip to the underworld, that the brutal life she has escaped might be better than where she is going. There is only one way to find out.

BOOK REVIEW: THE YOUNG ELITES BY MARIE LU

TITLE: The Young Elites
AUTHOR: Marie Lu
RELEASE DATE: October 7th 2014
RELEASED BY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
PURCHASE: Amazon

SUMMARY:

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

Also, check out Dark Fairy's review of The Young Elites HERE!

COPIED by S.M. ANDERSON: A Rock Chick Fairy Book Review

SYNOPSIS

Adopted off the black market, Alexander Mitchell, has no idea his DNA is copyrighted and property of military weapons giant Texacom Defense. Nor that his DNA is being used to develop an army of clones. When the company discovers he was not properly disposed of 17 years ago, they send an assassin copy, BETA23, to terminate Xan and cover it up.

After he narrowly escapes BETA23’s first attempt, Xan teams up with Lacey, a genetically engineered genius he’s surprised to find common ground with— only they’re awkward together. Half of the time she stares at Xan like the science project he is and the other half…let’s just say Xan can’t keep his eyes off her lips.

When they manage to capture a company copy by luck and sheer stupidity on Xan’s part, Lacey is determined to see the good in their prisoner to the point she believes BETA23 can be persuade to give them the intelligence they need to keep the company forever off Xan’s back. Xan’s not sure if he can trust the darker version of himself, not when it means gambling with the lives of his family and the possibility of losing Lacey. 

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FREAKS OF NATURE by WENDY BROTHERLIN: A Dark Fairy Book Review

SYNOPSIS

The global Ebola-X pandemic of 2022 lasted five months, two weeks, and six days before a cure could be found. In its wake, it left a generation of psionic freaks, who can turn a single thought into a weapon...or worse. Fifteen-year-old Devon McWilliams is one of those freaks, but Devon rates a big fat zero on the scale of cool psychic abilities. Days after escaping from his psionic detainment facility, the military intercepts him. Regaining consciousness, Devon finds himself restrained aboard a military airship headed toward certain death. Aboard this one-way flight to doom are six other psions. One of them, a telepath named Bai Lee Chen, claims to have the means to escape. All the others have to do is convince her that they're worthy of freedom by allowing her to telepathically replay their memories. The last thing Devon wants to do is reveal his useless plant-talking prowess to this destroy-you-with-a-thought crew. To complicate matters further, he's crushing hard on Alya, the group's lovely healer. Devon knows he must keep his wits about him if he's going to survive this wild ride. And that's going to be a tricky thing to do around a telepath who seems to have a diabolical agenda all her own.

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BLOG TOUR - PART TIME COWBOY by MAISEY YATES + REVIEW by the ROCK CHICK FAIRY + GIVEAWAY

Part Time Cowboy by Maisey Yates 

(Copper Ridge #1) 

Published by: Harlequin

Publication date: March 31st 2015

Genres: Contemporary, Romance

SYNOPSIS

A one-time bad girl comes home to small-town Oregon in the first in a sexy, heartfelt new series from USA TODAY bestselling author Maisey Yates…

Sadie Miller isn’t expecting any welcome-home parades on her return to Copper Ridge. Least of all from part-time rancher, full-time lawman Eli Garrett. The straight-laced, impossibly hot deputy sheriff glares at her like she’s the same teenage hoodlum who fled town ten years ago. But running from her demons has brought Sadie full circle, ready to make a commitment at last. Not to a man, but to a B and B. On Garrett land. Okay, so her plan has a tiny flaw…

Eli works too hard to let a blonde ball of trouble mess up his town. But keeping an eye on Sadie makes it tough to keep his hands off her. And if she’s so wrong for him, why does being with her feel so right?

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GOING BOVINE BY LIBBA BRAY: A BOOK REVIEW BY POPPY FAIRY

GOING BOVINE

Libba Bray

Hardcover, 480 pages

Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Summary:

Can Cameron find what he’s looking for?

All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school—and life in general—with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s sick and he’s going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure—if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.

✿✿✿FLAWED AND DAMAGED (Damaged Hearts #1) by Emily Krat: A Midnight Fairy Book Review✿✿✿

✈ Synopsis:

Two people haunted by their past...

The collision of two damaged hearts...

Meet Elizabeth Williams. She is at the airport on an important work assignment. If everything goes smoothly, after three years of hard work, she’ll get a promotion and a much-needed raise. Elizabeth is putting her life back on track after it was ripped out from under her feet four years ago when she lost her parents along with all her dreams. Standing here, she believes her life is going to change for the better any moment now. Nothing can go wrong, right?

Meet Ryan Price. He came to Moscow on business. Right now, Ryan is standing at the airport looking at a ‘present’ from his brother, judging by the sign a beautiful young woman is holding. Damn his brother for not cancelling this arrangement as Ryan asked.

Miscommunications and misunderstandings and a brilliant but painful love story begins.

There will be a scary flight, lovely breakfasts, long evening conversations, sharing a secret or two, discovering one another, a lot of laughter, tender moments and some tears, a fight and, of course, the I-am-ready-for-the-end-of-the-world kiss.

Somewhere along the way, they won’t be able to fight their feelings any longer.

For the first time in his life, Ryan will experience a different shade of lust. And for the first time in her life, Elizabeth will have to trust despite all of the times she has been hurt.

Will these two wounded lost souls find love, peace and comfort in each other or will they just break each other more? Is it a train wreck of a love story or a happily ever after?

This is a new adult book and is intended for readers who are at least 17 years old. Adult content/language/situations are inside.

✈ Links:

Kindle

Goodreads

✴✴ BLOG TOUR - INNER FIRE by R.L. STEDMAN + REVIEW by the ROCK CHICK FAIRY + GIVEAWAY!!! ✴✴

Inner Fire

by R.L. Stedman

Release Date: 11/30/14

Summary from Goodreads:

‘‘Maybe it would be better if I started at the beginning.’ Gran watched me carefully. ‘This ability

we have; my mother, me. You. We draw heat along our bodies; anger makes us flame.’

When her friend is assaulted, Corrine Peterson can’t help reacting. But she didn’t think and now

her hands are burnt, Gran is coming to look after her and, scariest of all, strange men are

watching her house. Could they be terrorists? Secret agents?

It seems that Gran’s idea of a solution is to introduce Corrine to Rowan. Okay, sure, maybe

eighteen year old Rowan is gorgeous – but he has his own troubles. And right now, Corrine

doesn’t need complications in her life.

But in a world of surveillance and secrecy, complexity is inevitable. And as the tension mounts

Corrine realizes - maybe Gran can help her, after all.

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✫ BLOG TOUR - PHOBIC by CORTNEY PEARSON + REVIEW by the ROCK CHICK FAIRY ✫

SYNOPSIS

Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Piper Crenshaw knows her house is strange. It’s never needed repairs since it was built in the 1800s, and the lights flicker in response to things she says. As if those things aren’t creepy enough, it’s also the place where her mother committed murder.

To prove she’s not afraid of where she lives, Piper opens a forbidden door, which hides a staircase that leads to the ceiling. That’s when the flashbacks of the original residents from 1875 start, including a love affair between two young servants. Each vision pulls Piper deeper into not only their story, but also her house. Piper confides in her best friend, Todd, whom she's gradually falling for, but even he doesn't believe her. At least, not until her house gets axed during a prank, and the act injures Piper instead, cutting a gash the size of Texas into her stomach.

                 

Piper realizes her house isn’t haunted—it’s alive. To sever her link to it, she must unravel the clues in the flashbacks and uncover the truth about her mother’s crime, before she becomes part of her house for good. 

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★ ★ BLOG TOUR: PROPHECY (CALYPSO #1) by Julie Anne Lindsey REVIEW by POPPY FAIRY + GIVEAWAY ★ ★

Title: Prophecy (Calypso, #1)

Author: Julie Anne Lindsey

Release Date: 10/06/14

Published by: Kensington Books

Add to Goodreads

Summary from Goodreads:

On the other side of death, is destiny.

Callie Ingram is spending her senior year focused on one thing: swimming. Her skill as a competitive swimmer is going to secure a scholarship and her future, or so she hopes. She has big plans, and Liam Hale, her gorgeous new neighbor, isn’t going to affect them. But when Callie sees Liam beheading someone, she learns his family has a secret that will change everything. The Hales are Vikings, demi-gods who’ve been charged by The Fates to find their new destined leader.

Callie’s caught in the middle of a budding Norse apocalypse, in love with Liam Hale and desperate to protect her best friend…who the Hales believe is marked for transformation. Putting the clues together as fast as she can, can discovers she has the power to rewrite destiny, for herself and all humankind.

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✵✵✵SOULLESS (DEATH WARDEN #1) BY AMBER GARR: A Midnight Fairy Book Review✵✵✵

Synopsis:

When it comes to death and love…only one is guaranteed.

Four decades ago Nora died. A tragic event for someone so young; however, four decades ago Nora was also given a second chance to walk among the living.

A Death Warden with a mysterious past, her job is to escort the newly expired towards the light, battling with the Soul Hunters who want the freshly dead to help with their own evil purposes buried in the dark. 

When Nora’s charges suddenly become targets, she realizes that the hunters are after far more than just souls. A shift in power between good and evil threatens to change everything, risking the lives of the only family Nora has ever known. 

Devastated and angry, she’s forced to face the man she once loved - a man who chose darkness over her - in order to find the answers she needs to stop the horror from escalating. Yet, while a lost relationship still haunts her broken heart, a new Warden with secrets of his own will enter the mix and quickly alter everything Nora believed to be true.

Death is unavoidable…but sometimes, so is love.

Links:

Goodreads

Amazon

◄◄◄ BLOG TOUR: ONE SIMPLE MEMORY BY JEAN KELSO + BOOK REVIEW BY MAUVE FAIRY + GIVEAWAY ►►►

Title: One Simple Memory

Author: Jean Kelso

Release Date: August 23, 2014

Goodreads

Synopsis

Jenn Samos lived a quiet life. Loved and sheltered by her family and friends, she knew nothing of the huge secret being kept from her growing up.

Deeply in love with her best friend, the man she thought would be hers forever. One little argument and he was gone. She never understood why.

Now three years later, he’s back. And with him, her world as she knows it, comes crashing down around her. Sean says she needs to remember. But Jenn doesn’t understand.

Can One Simple Memory really get them out of the mess they are in, or will someone die to keep secrets buried?

✲✲ BLOG TOUR - CAPTIVATE ME & IRIS by S. J. PIERCE + REVIEW by The Rock Chick Fairy + GIVEAWAYS!!! ✲✲

 

CAPTIVATE ME

by S.J. Pierce 

Publication date: April 1st 2014 

Genres: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis:

“My mom had always told me – when you meet “the one”, you’ll know; they’ll captivate your heart the moment you lay eyes on them. I had always wondered, though, if my mom’s words of wisdom were finite – if they applied to everyone. Maybe those who had found their one great love were the lucky few, and maybe the rest of us would have to settle for less than earth-shattering.”

Seventeen-year-old Kat Walsh is a Gifted – a human with paranormal abilities. With her mom a former Angel and her dad a dream prophet, it’s always been in her genetic make-up to be extraordinary. But, unfortunately for her, the world can’t handle the strange or unusual. So when she slips up and uses her powers at her high school in Ireland, the entire student body treats her like a freak – even the ones she thought were her closest friends.

Broken, but hopeful for a fresh start, she allows her parents to enroll her in a boarding school buried deep within the forests of a small Colorado town. At Midland Pines, School for the Gifted, she feels as though she can finally be herself; she makes new friends and even has the attention of the most popular guy in school – Levi. Everything feels normal again… or does it?

Not long after her arrival, weird dreams of an alluring boy whom she’s never met surface during the night, and the eerie, shadowy trees encircling their school seem to call to her. As these disturbing, yet enticing developments intensify, other bizarre occurrences happen – students and staff turn up missing, and mystery visitors leave gifts while she sleeps. With all of these other things fighting for her attention, a desperate Levi has to fight even harder to keep her interest. But with the dreams of the attractive boy slowly captivating her heart, Kat has to make a choice – will she settle for ‘great’ Levi, or will she search for her elusive dream visitor, possibly stumbling across ‘amazing’?

From the author of the Alyx Rayer Chronicles, comes a refreshingly different Young Adult series with plenty of love, suspense, and a new take on the Paranormal.

Recommended for readers 16 and up due to mature content.

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IRIS (#1.5)

by S.J. Pierce 

Publication date: September 1st 2014 

Genres: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis:

***This book is meant to be read after Captivate Me***

Set before the events in Book One of the Captivated Series, "Iris" explores the depths of family bonds, new bonds, and the lengths a person would go to save the life of a dying sibling. In this novella, get to know Iris and her two sisters more intimately, as well as Gabriel, the first angel-human hybrid who agrees to live under her protection.

Recommended for readers 16 and up due to mature content.

BUY THIS ON:

AMAZON

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☢☢☢ BLOG TOUR - CHINA DOGS by SAM MASTERS + REVIEW by the ROCK CHICK FAIRY ☢☢☢

Title: The China Dogs 

Author: Sam Master 

Genre: Thriller Publish Date: August 19, 2014 

Publisher: Witness Impulse an imprint of HarperCollins  

~ Synopsis ~

Man’s best friend is about to become America’s worst enemy... When a sudden rash of deadly canine attacks hits the greater Miami area, Lieutenant “Ghost” Walton, Special Ops, takes little notice. Blame it on the heat, a rare disease, or the fact that people just don’t know how to take care of their pets. But when the body count rises, and the perimeter of blood and carnage spreads wider and wider, into the farthest reaches of Miami-Dade county, Ghost has no choice but to pay attention. Doggedly, he tries to uncover the link between these lethal incidents, but he doesn’t count on falling for a sassy out-of-towner with a dark past, nor does he expect to stumble onto a plot that threatens national security. 

                 

Where to Purchase

 

✽ROAD TRIPPING by Noelle Adams: A Midnight Fairy Book Review✽

Synopsis:

Ethan was Ashley’s secret crush, until he became an asshole.

Asshole is too good a word for him. It’s bad enough that he stopped talking to her brother, who was his best friend since preschool. It’s even worse that he went wild and got involved with criminal types. But the worst thing of all is the way he trapped her on this ridiculous road trip.

That’s what it is. Ridiculous. It just isn’t normal for a girl to get dragged from Virginia to South Dakota in a stolen car with just $1000 in cash. With Ethan Moore, who is way too hot and way too infuriating to be tolerated. But she’s stuck with him on a trip that is taking way longer than it should, sharing cheap hotel rooms, destroying cars, and eluding bad guys.

Yep. There are bad guys chasing them. Even worse guys than Ethan, and that’s saying a lot.

Plus, she’s having trouble keeping her hands off Ethan. In fact, she’s falling for him hard—when she isn’t wanting to wring his neck.

So, for two crazy weeks, her pride, her heart, and her life are all threatened. Ashley isn’t sure which she’ll lose first.

Goodreads

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✹ ✹ ✹ BLOG TOUR - BREAKING MY HEART BY ALEYA MICHELLE + REVIEW BY THE MAUVE FAIRY + GIVEAWAY: ✹ ✹ ✹

TITLE: Breaking My Heart (Book 1 of My Heart Series)

AUTHOR: Aleya Michelle

GENRE: Contemporary Romance

DATE PUBLISHED: May 3, 2014

PUBLISHER: Self Published

REVIEWER: Mauve Fairy

RATING: 3.5 Fairy Wings

Goodreads

≈ SYNOPSIS ≈

Roxy is a fighter, she is strong and independent. She knows exactly what she wants and is not afraid to go after it, especially when it comes to men. Roxy thinks she has men figured out, that is until she meets Kade. He storms into her life like a knight on a white horse to save her. He makes her question everything she ever thought she knew about life, men and herself. 

With a past that keeps holding her back will Kade be able to break down her walls? Will he be able to prove to Roxy that everything she thinks she knows about men is wrong, or will he prove her right?

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☆☆☆ BLOG TOUR: SUMMONED by Anne M. Pillsworth + BOOK REVIEW by Sunburst Fairy + GIVEAWAY!!! ☆☆☆

Synopsis 

When the Elder Gods extend an invitation, be wary of the strings attached

While browsing in a rare book store in Arkham, Sean finds an occult book with an ad seeking an apprentice sorcerer, from a newspaper dated March 21, 1895. Even more intriguing, the ad specifically requests applicants reply by email.

Sean’s always been interested in magic, particularly the Lovecraftian dark mythology. Against his best friend Edna’s (“call-me-Eddy-or-else”) advice, he decides to answer the ad, figuring it’s a clever hoax, but hoping that it won’t be. The advertiser, Reverend Redemption Orne, claims to be a master of the occult born more than 300 years ago. To prove his legitimacy, Orne gives Sean instructions to summon a harmless but useful familiar—but Sean’s ceremony takes a dark turn, and he instead accidentally beckons a bloodthirsty servant to the Cthulhu Mythos god Nyarlathotep. The ritual is preemptively broken, and now Sean must find and bind the servitor, before it grows too strong to contain. But strange things are already happening in the town of Arkham….

Purchase Links:

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